Weather strip device



Nov- 12, 1968 K. G. VON BUSCH 3,410,025

WEATHER STRIP DEVICE Filed Sepp 2, 196e FIG., i /o :Rin INVENTOR.

i KENNETH GVO/v BUSCH ,2/ ATTORNEYS United States ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An elongated rod with both ends bent so they extend generally toward each other pivotally mounted adjacent the lower edge of a door with portions of the rod olset so that the ends thereof are Valways biased inwardly toward the door, an elongated resilient roller engaged between the ends of the rod so as to be positioned to substantially close the opening between the door and the threshold when the door is closed and to be positioned in juxtaposition to the door but spaced from the edge thereof when the door is open, said rod having means extending outwardly therefrom adapted to engage a strike means attached to the door jamb to rotate the rod and move the cylinder between the two positions as the door is moved.

This invention pertains to a weather strip device and more particularly to a device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold when the door is closed.

In the prior art there are many weather strip devices attachable to doors for closing the opening remaining beneath the door when the door is closed. Most of these devices do not close the opening beneath the door properly because they are not designed to fit within the opening but, rather, they simply are positioned in front of the opening. Also, in many of these devices there is a great amount of wear due to engagement with the iioor as the door is swung open, which causes the device to function improperly shortly after installation and requires periodic replacements. Also, many of the devices are not adjustable and consequently the door must be constructed to fit the device rather than vice versa. Some devices have been constructed which overcome a few of these diiiiculties, however, these devices are so complicated to manufacture and install that they are seldom, if ever used. Many of these devices are characterized by requiring special grooves and holes in the door for the installation of the device therein, which installation requires a person with special skills, such as a carpenter or the like, and special tools.

In the present device a framework, which is easily attached to the lower edge of a door by means of four screws or the like, pivotally mounts a roller so that it can rotate from a position in which it is engaged in the opening between the door and the threshold when the door is closed and a position in which it is in juxtaposition to the door but spaced from the lower edge thereof when the door is opened. A strike is attached to the casing surrounding the door adjacent the framework so as to engage a protruding or activating member affixed to the framework. As the door is closed the activating member engages the strike and rotates the roller into position in the opening between the door and the threshold. As the door is opened, the activating member engages the strike atent 3,410,025 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 in such a manner as to cause the roller to rotate in the opposite direction upwardly against the surface of the door so that the door may be opened to its full extent with no interference from the device. The framework includes means for biasing the roller into either of the above described positions. Since the roller and the framework are a complete self-contained unit and the entire unit is affixed to the surface of the door adjacent the edge, the device is easily adjustable to tit any door and to effectively close any reasonable sized opening beneath a door. Also, because the present device simply attaches to the surface of a door by screws or the like, it can be installed by practically any person quickly, easily, and without any special tools or knowledge.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved weather strip device for doors.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a weather strip device which closes the openings between doors and thresholds with a much improved precision.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a weather strip device which is simple and inexpensive to install.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a weather strip device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specilication, claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. l is a front view of the present device attached to a door in the closed position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional View looking downwardly on the device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end view of the device illustrated in FIG. 1 as seen from the line 3 3 in FIG. 2 illustrating the position the device assumes when the door is closed and movement of the device, in dotted lines, as the door is opened; l

FIG. 4 is an end view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating the position the device assumes as the door is opened;

FIG. 5 is a view of the strike means as seen from the line 5 5 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 6-6 in FIG. 1.

In the figures the numeral 10 designates a door pivotally mounted in a casing 11 by hinges 12. A portion of the floor directly below the door 10, commonly referred to as the threshold, is designated 13. The door 10 is spaced from the threshold 13 in the usual manner so that it can swing freely without engaging the floor during opening and closing movements. The opening between the door 10 and the threshold 13 is designated 15 and for purposes of this discussion whenever opening 15 is referred to it will be understood that the door 10 is in its closed position in casing 11.

A weather strip device generally designated 20 is illustrated attached adjacent the edge of the door 10 n the figures. The weather strip device 20 includes a roller 21, a framework generally designated 22, and a strike 23. The roller 21 is anelongated cylindrically shaped means extending a distance somewhat greater than the width of the door 10 so that when positioned against the lower edge 3 of the door and the threshold 13, the opening 15 is completely closed. In the present embodiment the roller 21 is illustrated with a circular cross section, however, it should be understood that the cross section might have a variety of shapes, such as elliptical, triangular, etc., all of which would still be included within the scope of this invention.

In this embodiment the roller 21 is made up of an inner hollow cylindrical piece of metal tubing 25 having a* hollow cylindrically shaped piece of resilient material 26, such as sponge rubber or the like, xedly engaged around the outer periphery thereof. The right end of the metal tube 25, referring to FIG. 6, has a hollow cylindrical plug 27 inserted therein. The plug 27 is closed at the inner end and has a plunger 28 positioned therein and biased toward the right end thereof by a compression spring 29. The plunger 28 has an opening in the right end thereof which is adapted to receive the end of a rod 30, which will be discussed in more detail in conjunction with the framework 22. The plug 27, the metal cylinder 25 and the resilient cylinder 26 all have a slot therein which opens upwardly to allow the rod 30 to move axially therealong. A plug 31 is ixedly engaged in the left end of the metal cylinder 25 and has an opening in the left end thereof adapted to receive the end of a rod 32 therein. The rod 32 will be discussed in more detail in conjunction with the framework 22.

The rods 30 and 32 are iixedly positioned relative to each other and to engage the roller 21 thereover the end of the rod 30 is inserted in the opening in the plunger 28 and the roller 21 is moved to the right into the position illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 6. As the roller 21 moves into the position illustrated in dotted lines, the spring 29 compresses and the left end of the roller 21 moves axially past the end of the rod 32 so that the end of the rod 32 can be inserted into the opening in the plug 31. The spring 29 then forces the roller 21 back to the position illustrated in full lines and it is held firmly in place. It should be noted that the roller 21 will generally be constructed so that the resilient material 26 extends somewhat past the left end of the metal cylinder 25. This allows the person installing the device 20 to cut the roller 21 to the desired length to completely close the opening 15.

The framework 22 includes an elongated plate 35 which extends approximately the width of the door 10 adjacent the lower edge thereof. The plate 35 is xedly attached adjacent the lower edge of the door 10 by some convenient means, such as the plurality of screws 36. The plate 35 has a lip 37 projecting laterally outwardly from the lower edge thereof. The lip 37 is insulated by a resilient bumper 38 ixedly attached thereover. The operation of the lip 37 will -be discussed in detail presently. The plate 35 has a bearing 40 tixedly attached at either end thereof so that the bearings 40 define an axis of rotation approximately parallel to but spaced from the lower edge of the door 10. In addition to the end bearings 40, a center bearing 41 is frxedly attached to the plate 35 by means of screws or the like. In this embodiment, the center bearing 41 is coaxial with the end bearings 40, however, as will be understood from a further description of the present device, a variety of configurations might be utilized all of which corne within the scope of this invention.

A rod 45 is pivotally mounted within the bearings 40 and 41 for rotation about the axis defined thereby. Adjacent the outer ends of the bearings 40 the rod 45 is bent approximately perpendicular to the axis of rotation and the laterally extending portions of the rod, previously designated 30 and 32, extend somewhat past the outer edges of the plate 22 after which the extreme ends of the portions 30 and 32 are bent parallel to the axis of rotation. The portions 30 and 32 and the extreme ends thereof are illustrated in FIG. 6 and where previously discussed in conjunction with the roller 21. Thus, the rod 45 pivotally mounts the roller 21 for rotation about the axis defined by the bearings 40 and 41.

The roller 21 has a bias applied thereto which urges it into a first position in which the opening 15 is closed, as illustrated in FIG. 3, or a' second position in which the roller 21 is in juxtaposition to the door 10 and spaced above the axis of rotation, as illustrated in FIG. 4. In the present embodiment the biasing means include a pair of laterally offset portions and 51 in the rod 45. The laterally offset portions 50 and 51 are bends in the rod 45 spaced from the inner ends of the bearings 40, which bends are perpendicular to the axis of rotation and directed away from the roller 21. Thus, the central portion of the rod 45 is parallel to but spaced slightly from the axis of rotation. The approximate center'of the rod45 is deformed or drawnback to the axis -of rotation and held in place by the center bearing 41. A pair of bearing pads 52 and 53 ixedly attached to the Iplate 35 beneath the offset portions 50 and 51, respectively, are constructed of some relatively hard, smooth material, such as nylon or the like. Pads 52 and 53 provide a smoothsurface on which the offset portions 50 and 51 will slide easily during rotation of the rod 45. The rod 45 is constructed froma resilient material and any rotation of the roller 21 rotates the rod 45 so that the laterally offset portions S0 and 51 cause additional deformation of the rod 45 which, because of the resiliency of the rod 45, produces a springlike action or bias on the roller 21. Because of the deformation of the center of the rod 45 by the bearing 41 there is a bias on the roller 21 urging it tightly into the opening- 15 when it is in the first position and urging it tightly against the surface of the door 10 when it is in the second postion. Also, as the roller 21 is rotated from either the rst or the second position toward the center the bias increases so that the roller 21 will always move from the center toward either the rst or the second position.

The rod 45 has an activating member 55 xedly attached adjacent the left end thereof, as seen in FIGS. l and 2. The activating member 55 is attached to the end of the rod 45 adjacent the edge of the door 10 opposite the hinged edge. In this embodiment the activating member 55 is an integral portion of the rod 45 and extends approximately perpendicular to the axis of rotation and makes some predetermined angle with the end portion of the rod 32. The extreme end of the activating member 55 is bent parallel to the axis of rotation and extends past the edge of the door 10 and a short distance past the inner edge of the casing 11. The activating member 55 must extend past the edge of the door 10 a suicient distance to engage the strike 23.

The strike 23 is a at plate which is aixed to the inner surface of the casing 11 by some convenient means such as screws 56. The strike 23 extends outwardly from the casing 11 a short distance in the direction in which the door 10 swings open. The outwardly projecting portion of the strike 23 has a slot 57 formed therein, the lower and rear surface of which forms a cam surface 58 and the upper outwardly projecting portion forms a second cam surface 59. It should be noted that the strike 23 and the activating member 55 could be constructed in a great variety of embodiments and the present embodiment is only for illustrative purposes and not to limit this invention in any way.

To install the weather strip device 20 on a door the person need only position the plate 22 so that the roller 21 is in tight engagement with the threshold 13, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and so the activating member 55 extends over to but does not engage the casing 11. The screws 36 are then threadedly engaged in the door 10. Once the plate 22 is iixedly attached to the door 10, the strike 23 is attached to the casing 11 so that the device operates as follows.

When the door 10 is open the roller 21 should be in the position illustrated in FIG. 4. As the door is closed the activating member 55 engages the cam surface 58 of the strike 23 causing the roller 21 to rotate clockwise about the axis of rotation, referring to FIG. 4. As the roller 21 rotates clockwise the rod 45 is deformed by the laterally olset portions 50 and 51 which produces a bias that increases as the roller moves toward the center position. When the activating member 55 slides along the cam surface 58 to the extreme upper end thereof the roller 21 is slightly past the center position on the downward side and the bias produced by the deformation of the rod 45 causes the roller 21 to snap into the position illustrated in FIG. 3. Simultaneous with the activating member 55 reaching the upper end of the cam surface 58 the door 10 should be completely closed. Thus, at least a portion of the roller 21 is forced into the opening 15 beneath the door 10 by the bias of the deformed rod 45. Since the plate 22 is positioned on the door 10 so that the roller 21 is in tight engagement with the threshold 13 and since the bias of the deformed rod 45 forces the lroller 21 against the surface of the door 10 the opening 15 is tightly closed. Because the roller 21 is constructed Iwith a relatively large diameter practically any reasonable size opening 15 below the door 10 can `be completely closed. Referring to FIG. 3 it can be seen that the lip 37 adds to the closing effect of the roller 21 and increases the size of opening 15 which the device 20 can close. The lip 37 engages the upper portion of the Lroller 21 and effectively forms a seal between the plate 22 and the roller 21 to prevent any flow of air, dust particles, etc., therebetween.

When the door is opened the activating member 55 engages the cam surface 59 of the strike 23 which causes the roller 21 to -rotate in a counter clockwise direction about the axis of rotation, as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 3. As the roller 21 passes the center point the bias produced by the deformed rod 45 forces the roller 21 upwardly into the position illustrated in full lines in FIG. 4. The strike 23 is positioned on the casing 11 so that the activating member 55 is disengaged from the strike 23 as the roller passes the center position and, therefore, the door 10 is free to swing completely open with no interference from the weather strip device 20. The -roller 21 is positioned against the surface of the door 10 so that the door 10 can be opened its fullest etxent with no interference therefrom. Also, the activating member 55 is again positioned so that it will engage the cam surface 58 of the strike 23 when the door 10 is closed.

Thus, a weather strip device is disclosed which is simple to install and is variable as to the length and width of the opening under a door so that it can be installed on any door. In addition, the device operates smoothly and will not hinder the normal operation of the door. Besides the above advantages the roller of the present device is resilient and fits snugly against the threshold and the door to completely close the opening beneth the door. Because the device is moved out of engagement with the threshold with very little movement of the door there is practically no wear on the resilient roller due to sliding on the oor. Thus, the device is completely automatic and once installed needs little or no attention.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modification and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold when the door is closed comprising:

(a) elongated cylindrically shaped means extending approximately the width of the door;

(b) means attaching said cylindrically shaped means Cil adjacent the edge of the door for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from the longitudinal axis thereof;

(c) strike means adapted to be attached to the door casing adjacent said attaching means;

(d) means connected to said attaching means and adapted to engage said strike means for pivoting said cylindrical means to a first position in which the opening between the door and the threshold is substantially closed when the door is closed and to a second position in which said cylindrical means is in juxtaposition to the door but spaced from the edge thereof as the door is opened; and

(e) biasing means for holding said cylindrical means in said lirst position when the door is closed and in said second position when the door is open.

2. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold when the door is closed comprising:

(a) strike means adapted to be attached to the door casing adjacent the edge of the door;

(b) an elongated cylindrically shaped roller extending approximately the width of the door;

(c) frame means including:

(1) a plate adapted to be attached to the door adjacent the edge thereof and having a plurality of bearing means attached to the outer surface thereof which define an axis of rotation spaced from the edge of the door,

(2) rod-like means formed to extend through said bearing means and engage said roller adjacent either end for pivotally mounting said .roller about said axis of rotation and spaced therefrom,

(3) activating means attached to said rod-like means and extending outwardly therefrom a sufficient distance to engage said strike means for pivoting said roller about said axis of rotation to a first position in which the opening between the door and the threshold is substantially closed by said roller when the door is closed and to a second position in which said roller is in juxtaposition to the door but spaced from the edge thereof as the door is opened, and

(4) laterally extending means attached to said rod-like means which cooperates with the remainder of said frame means to provide a bias urging said roller into said first position when the door is closed and into said second position as the door is opened.

3. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold as set forth in claim 2 wherein the strike means includes a plate having two cam surfaces therein one of which engages the activating means as the door is closed to rotate the roller in a rst direction about the axis of rotation and the other of which engages the activating means as the door is opened to rotate the roller in the opposite direction about the axis of rotation.

4. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold as set forth in claim 2 wherein at least a portion of the cylindrically shaped roller is resilient for providing a more positive closing action.

5. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of the door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold as set forth in claim 2 having in addition bearing surface means xedly attached to the plate in juxtaposition to the laterally extending means to provide a smooth working surface therefor.

6. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge of a door for substantially closing an opening between the door and the threshold as set forth in claim 2 wherein the laterally extending means includes at least one lateral offset portion integral with the rod-like means and posiy 8 tioned to cause deformation of the rod-like means as the References Cited roller is pivoted about the axis of rotation and consegnent UNITED STATES PATENTS bias urging the roller mto the -rst and second posltlon.

7. A weather strip device attachable adjacent the edge 6101219 9/1898 Wllmot 49-311 of a door for substantially closing an opening between the 5 2:85 11745 9/1958 Ryndes 49.311 doo r and the thresliolcl as set forth in claim 2, having in FOREIGN PATENTS add1t1on a 11p projecting laterally outwardly from the 323 685 M1930 Great Britain plate and extending approximately the width of the door for engaging the surface of the roller when the roller is DAVID 1 WILLIAMOWSKY Primary Examnen in the second position and providing additional closing 10 action. J. KARL BELL, Assistant Exammer. 

